Abstract. The potential application of ion implantation to modify the surfaces of ceramic materials is discussed. Changes in the chemical composition and microstructure result in important variations of the electrical and catalytic properties of oxides. 66.30, 81.40, 81.60, 61.70 Since the introduction of ion implantation as a surface modification technique, the electrical [1, 2], optical [3], magnetic [4], chemical [5], mechanical [6] and topographical [7] properties of solids have been modified. The potential use of ion implantation to modify the surfaces of ceramic materials has been discussed by Burggraaf et al. [56]. These changes in the macroscopic properties correspond to the changes in chemical composition and microstructure. In this paper this relationship is discussed for the electrical and catalytic properties of oxides, modified by ion implantation.
PACS:
Ion ImplantationIn the ion-implantation process, specific atoms are ionized, accelerated and mass selected [8]. Those high energetic ions (15 keV-2 MeV) penetrate in the solid and come to rest due to elastic and inelastic energy loss processes. A comprehensive treatment of the penetration of ions in solids has been given in [-9 and 10]. Depending on the process parameters the depth profile can be given different shapes, the penetration depth can be varied between some nanometers and about one micrometer and the dopant concentration in the surface can be raised to about 50 at.%. When the ion beam is properly scanned over the surface, lateral very uniform concentrations of the dopant are obtained. Due to the electrical control of the ion energy and dose, the technique is very reproducible.A major advantage of ion implantation is that a surface layer can be doped with any element, independent of its solubility in the substrate material. This means that one can produce metastable compounds, strongly supersaturated solid solutions and complex microstructures consisting of very finely dispersed precipitates with nanoscale dimensions in a matrix material. Several examples are discussed below.
Microstructural Changes
As-Implanted StateWhen an ion is implanted, it collides with the nuclei and electrons of the solid. In ionic oxides, only nuclear collisions result in defects [11]. Vacancies and interstitials are generated in both the anion and the cation sublattice. Interstitial loops nucleate and grow during irradiation. The lattice damage initially increases with the dose and finally saturates [11]. At that point as many defects are generated as annihilated by dynamic recovery processes in the solid. Dynamic recovery processes can be suppressed by cooling the target to low temperatures.The accumulation of defects in ion-implanted solids can result in a transition from a crystalline to an amorphous phase. This has been observed for, e.g., A1203 [12,13] [25]. The main conclusion from this model is that Fe 3 + can only exist in MgO as an isolated impurity. The fraction of Fe z + and Fe ~ is determined by the probability that, respectively, two Fe atoms and ...